Velveteen Tears
by TheGoddessJynx
Summary: Princess Sakura: no more. Her kingdom lost, her destiny vanished, and her future unknown. But, even though her kingdom was destroyed, there are people who still need her...dead. I just updated, but I need to know if it needs editing...help, peoples!
1. Beginnings

Miyu: finally! A Card Captor Sakura fic! I've been meaning to do one of these for a while now.

Ryuu: so why didn't you?

Miyu: time, my love, time.

Ryuu: …only time can heal you?

Miyu: what?

Ryuu: what are you talking about?

Miyu: I've had no time! Ahem. DISCLAIMER!

Ryuu:heart failure:

Miyu: I do not own Card Captor Sakura nor any of the characters/ideas therein.

Prologue

"Daddy, look! A shooting star!" Sakura Kinomoto pointed excitedly into the midnight sky. "Ssssh! I have to make a wish!" The small, auburn-haired girl squeezed her eyes shut, her lips silently moving to some unheard desire.

King Fujitaka, ruler of the vast country Chanson, smiled gently at his little girl squirming in his lap. "And what are you wishing, little fire?"

"I can't tell you that! If I do, it won't come true!" Sakura scolded her father with her eyes. "You know that!"

"Ah, of course," He chuckled, and his deep voice vibrated against Sakura's back. "Well, then, will you at least tell me what you want for you your birthday? You'll be turning six. What would you like?"

Sakura suddenly leapt up from Fujitaka's lap, much to his surprise, and turned around to glare down at him. "I already told you what I want! I want the same thing as last year, and the year before! I want to learn how to fight!"

Fujitaka let out a heavy sigh before reaching out and kindly tugging his daughter down into a sitting position. "Little fire, I've told you. Princesses aren't supposed to know how to fight. They are supposed to know how to run the household and serve their husband."

"But what if I don't want to have a husband?"

"Heaven forbid!"

Sakura sighed in childish frustration. "Daddy, you're the king! Why can't you make it so girls can learn the same stuff as boys?"

"It's not that simple, sweetie…"

"Sure it is!" she stomped her feet on the ground, that action being quite an interesting sight seeing as she still was still seated. "Mommy always said that I could do anything, that everyone in this country is free to believe what they want, say how they feel, and learn everything, even girls!"

"But such things are still frowned upon. It has only been a single generation since the laws were changed; the old ways are still fresh in people's minds."

"But what better way to help push a good change in people than to start with your own daughter!" Sakura exclaimed, trying desperately to convince her father to let her learn fighting styles and techniques. "Don't make me do the face."

Fujitaka glanced up at Sakura, whose face instantly formed a sickeningly perfect and irresistible pout. "Pwease…" Her emerald green eyes begged him to see things her way.

With another heavy sigh and a small twinge of doubt, Fujitaka nodded. "Very well. I will teach and train you the same as I train my soldiers, with the help of my own teacher and my father's best friend, General Kouketsu. But mind you," Fujitaka added to the ecstatic girl, "We won't go easy on you. We'll treat you just like any other child we train. You'll train every day for eight hours, rain or shine, snow or not. Do you understand?"

"YES!" Sakura jumped on her dad and squealed. "Oh, daddy, thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!"

The sweet laughter of a father and daughter echoed throughout the forest of the city Delrie, the country Chanson, and the planet Earth. Thought neither of them could have possible imagined the horrors to come amidst their peaceful little world.

"Just you wait, daddy! By the time I'm queen, every girl will know how to fight! I can't _wait _to become queen!"

Miyu: well, that's the beginning. Please review and tell me if you like it, or if I should totally ditch the whole idea…

Ryuu: I need a life.

Miyu: try ebay. I hear they sometimes sell for 99 cents. Course, they also sell elephant poo…so…be careful. And if anyone tells you to sign something, sign our neighbor's dogs name. I highly doubt any soul collectors ask for picture id.


	2. Futures Lost

Miyu: okay, next chapter, let's go.

Ryuu: impatient, aren't we.

Miyu: YES! I do not own Card Captor Sakura nor any of its characters/ideas.

"Dad, would you please stop worrying? I've done this a hundred—no—a _thousand_ times, and I have yet to miss. Do you remember the first day you taught me to use a bow and arrow? Do you remember what happened?" Sakura tapped her delicate but strong fingers on her waist. "I hit the target. On my first try. I'm the best marksperson you have."

Fujitaka nodded in frustration towards his daughter. "Yes, I know, but that wasn't in front of a crowd of over a hundred people. Things like this can make people nervous."

"Not me," Sakura replied in a teenage annoyance.

It was Sakura's eleventh year of life, soon to be her twelfth, and she was finally declared old enough to enter the tournament of warriors. The tournament in itself was a week long event in which all walks of life could participate. Even women, thanks to Sakura's tenacity and her father's endless support. The tournament was filled with everything, from jousting to sword fighting to hand-to-hand combat to archery. Sakura herself had entered sword fighting and archery, but was positive that she could win hand-to-hand. Unfortunately for her, only people in their fifteenth year could participate in that event. But after beating her best friend Tsukue and his older brother, Yukito, both of which were in the military, it was fairly obvious that she was capable of handling herself superbly in hand-to-hand combat.

"Just breathe, little fire, you'll be fine. You'll do great. I'm positive. You'll do just fine. Just focus. Don't be nervous."

"I'm not."

"Don't let the crowd get to you."

"Again with the I'm not."

"Just focus on the target."

"Really? 'Cuz I was considering focusing on that little kid eating a piece of candy. Just seemed so much smarter," She gave her dad a look.

Her dad sighed. "Okay, okay, I can take a hint. Have fun and be careful."

"I'm aiming at the target, dad. Not my foot. I'll be fine."

"Right. Good luck, little fire," King Fujitaka reached over and gave his daughter a sort of side hug, to which she replied, "Thanks, dad. After this, we'll celebrate, okay? Just the two of us. Maybe we'll have a picnic or something."  
"Sounds great, little fire," Fujitaka smiled down at his not-so-little-anymore little girl. With one last awkward squeeze, he headed off to the side lines of the shooting range.

Sakura took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She fell in line with the other participants, each of them at least a foot taller than her, and her being the only eleven year old girl. There were two other women, but they were just that, women, at least 16 years of age. She could practically feel the tension, could almost hold it in her hand as it wafted throughout the arena. The crowd fell silent as each archer drew their bows, arrows in place, string taught. There was a loud ping and a whoosh as the arrows flew through the air, racing to meet their targets. A loud cry went up from the crowd, the arrows proudly or shamefully stating who went on to the next round.

Sakura smiled. Her arrow smiled back at her from the center of her target. Next round, moving targets. Another easy victory.

The day wore on, and as afternoon came, only three of the twenty-two participants remained: Sakura, the only girl, a foreigner named Diarmiad, and the one and only Yukito. Sakura was last.

The target was a tiny, red apple set a good twenty yards away, sitting pretty as you please on a tree stump. Diarmiad just barely skimmed the side of the apple, and Yukito hit the apple just to the upper right corner. If Sakura hit the apple square in the middle, or at least hit the core of the apple, she'd win.

Stepping up to the mark, straightened her back, and withdrew an arrow from the bag on her back. She drew her bow, the bow made specially for her and by her from the branch of an Ash tree, with fire-like design near the top end. She took a deep breath as a gust of wind caught a lock of her wine-red hair and pulled it from the braid. Her emerald green eyes sparkled as she prepared to let loose her perfectly made arrow.

WHOOSH! The apple was suddenly nailed to a tree by an arrow, straight through the middle, a perfect shot.

Sakura blinked. _Did I…did I fire my arrow? _She looked down in confusion at the arrow still waiting patiently within her bow. _What…?_

"ATTACK! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Someone from the high balconies screamed just as a shower of flaming arrows rained down upon the arena. Screams filled the air, panic ran rampant, and under it all was Sakura, still standing out in the middle of the field. Her gaze was surprised, confused, and she stared blankly at the people, her people, running from the stands, tripping over the quickly growing number of bodies strewn all of the place, arrows freeing the blood to run unchecked. What was happening? How could they be attacked? They could never be attacked. They were impregnable. No one could get passed their walls, much less the terrain. The forest was dizzying. Only those that carried the forest Spirit's blessings could pass through unharmed. How…?

"Sakura! Move!" A hard body suddenly hit Sakura head on like a bull running full speed. She felt her breath leave in her a loud whoosh, and blinked in surprised shock as Yukito pushed her down on the ground, away from the barrage of arrows.

Just as she fell backwards, her father came into sight, and arrow stuck firmly in his chest, his eyes bulging from his face, blood everywhere. Sakura's mouth opened, and she wanted to scream, she needed to scream, but the air wasn't there. She could only reach out to her father and pray that he could see her, that he'd be all right. He was fine, he was strong; this wound was nothing. But just as her head hit the ground with a vicious smack, and just before the darkness came to claim her mind, she knew that he wasn't okay.

Nothing would ever be okay again.

Miyu: so? Whataya think? I need at least five replies before I post again.

Ryuu: demanding, aren't we?

Miyu: most definitely. :smile: although, I must admit, I'm having the most fun writing this fic. More fun than my other fics.

Ryuu: don't let those fans know. They might attack. And nothing is worse than a rabid fan.

Miyu: girl.

Ryuu: eh?

Miyu: rabid fans are capable of being dealt with. Rabid fan GIRLS however…they're lethal. I should know. I am one.


	3. Pangs

Miyu: CCS characters don't belong to me….blah, blah, blah….

Sakura wiped a pale hand across her sweaty brow. Taking a deep, calming breath, she prepared herself to yet again go on the attack.

Balling her hand into a fist, she punched the unforgiving lump of dough on the table, sending puffs of flour into the air. It seemed to glare at her, mocking her with its harshness. Making this kind of bread was akin to going to battle, and Sakura would be damned if she didn't beat that thing down.

She was incredibly tempted to just throw the slowly forming Makowli bread across the room and smack into the wall, but her pay would be severely docked and she risked a painful whipping if she didn't have the country's infamous bread ready by the celebration that night.

It had been over three years since her country had been attacked and overrun, and in the attack her people had nearly been slaughtered. Those that were left, including herself, had either been sold into slavery to the conquering nation's nobles or to nearby ally nations. She, and a few others, had been taken straight to the king and queen, wherein she became a servant for the castle. It was degrading, for sure, and not in the least bit fun, but the king and queen were kind, for the most part, and she was even paid for her services…which was actually rather odd, considering she was technically a slave and unable to leave.

At the time of her capture, after she had woken up from the painful blow to her head to find herself in a strange camp surrounded by soldiers, she had lied about her identity, saying she was simply another peasant. She wasn't sure, but she guessed that these soldiers were from Tambrocia, the nearby country who always seemed anxious for a fight. It had never occurred to her throughout her relatively sheltered life that there might be a people who hated her and her family, until that fateful night when she stared into the soldier's face as he viciously asked her, "Are you one of those disgusting Kinomotos?"

She said no.

Never in her life had she lied about who she was.

Of course, never in her life did she feel she had to.

With a renewed vigor, she yet again attacked the rough dough, struggling against its hard grains to make it soft and pliable. It wasn't really a terrible life, when she truly thought it over. At least it was a life. She could have been killed. But strangely, the Li's seemed to prefer that the more gentile looking servants be placed in their house. Perhaps it had to do with pride. Perhaps it had to do with vanity. Perhaps they were all lunatics.

She rolled the now softened dough into an oblong ball and placed it in the stone oven. Wiping her brow yet again, she plopped down onto a kitchen chair and stared blankly at the oven.

But she did miss her father…and her land. Her precious Delrie…her Chanson.

It may have been the Mother Goddess looking after her, it may have been a strange turn of events, or it may have even been dumb luck that her best friend Tomoyo was captured and taken to the castle with her. But, if anyone had a lovely, gentile face and demeanor, it was Tomoyo. With her long, wavy blue-black hair and her deep gray eyes, it had soon become clear to her why Tomoyo was immediately placed in the group heading to the Royal Court. Now, as for herself, well…she had never really considered herself to be a beauty. Oh, she knew she was pretty, certainly prettier than some of the girls she had grown up with, but it never occurred to her that she might be beautiful. Not until the day she stood in a line with the other captives before the queen. Not until the moment the queen had paused in front of her and murmured, "Captivating eyes. Excellent skin and bone structure. And that hair…I have never seen hair so dark a shade of red. A real beauty, this one." She had then turned and snapped an order in some unknown language to one of the servants standing behind her, who in turn eventually led Sakura to the royal servant quarters, telling her briefly and coldly that this was where she would be living from now on and the her orders would come from him. It was soon obvious that he was a sort of manager for all the servants, relaying messages from the king and queen about daily events, monthly banquets and annual balls. Common occurrences in the Li house.

But tonight. Ah, tonight was different. Tonight, the prince would be returning home from his long training in far off lands, intent most certainly with finding himself a bride at the manly and grown age of 18. Tonight, he would greet the nobles at his welcome home celebration, a much-needed practice for when he became king, and the nobles would of course be proudly showing off their eligible daughters, decked out in their finest (and most costly) attire.

In some ways, the entire thing annoyed Sakura to within an inch of her sanity, or at least, what was left of it, but at the same time, it hit a nerve deep within her heart, and sent a painful longing for the days when she would have worn those clothes and danced those dances. She was not ungrateful, understand…but she wasn't blind, either.

"Sakura! Have you finished the bread?" Tomoyo practically skipped into the kitchen, her newly ironed curls bouncing merrily about her head. "I was wondering if you wanted to go steal a peek with me at the grand ballroom. It must look amazing!" She squealed in girlish delight.

Sakura snorted. "Please. Why would I want to see ridiculous stuff like that? I could be using my time for more important things." She waved her hand, as if brushing away any frivolous thoughts she herself had just been entertaining.

"Oh, come on, Sakura! Please?" Tomoyo gazed hopefully at Sakura. "I've finally finished preparing all the guest bedrooms and I've been _dying_ to do this all day."

"Why don't you take Minami with you? I think she'd enjoy that sort of thing a bit more than I." Sakura stretched herself out, listening to the small, familiar pops her body made after a long day's work. She had just prepared at least half of the dinner by herself, huffily leaving the rest to the cook who _should_ have been there, but obviously wasn't. "If you don't mind…I think I'd rather go outside and exercise a bit." She watched Tomoyo out of the corner of her eyes.

Tomoyo paused briefly in her survey of the food spread out on the table but quickly resumed her inspection. "Are you sure you want to do that, Sakura? You know how the queen feels about women and fighting…do you remember what happened last time?"

How could she not! The gashes from the whip were still sore on her back, even though they were completely closed. But her body was cramped and longed for the stretching and flexing that technique practice brought. "Tomoyo, I want—no—I _need_ to do this. Just…keep me covered. Okay?"

Tomoyo sighed in exasperation. "Fine. But if you get another whipping, don't come to _me_ for medicine." Although she knew she would help Sakura anytime, no matter what. "Go on, hurry up."

"Thanks a bunch!" Sakura brushed a kiss across her best friend's cheek, who sniffed in mock annoyance but shot a grin at Sakura through her eyes.

"Please be careful…you lose sight of things when you practice…it's like you disappear…"

Sakura stared blankly out at the vast ocean that lay just beyond the castle. She inhaled slowly, held it for a moment, then exhaled. She felt her muscles calm, felt her heartbeat steady, felt her entire body prepare itself for the fluid movement that was Sakura.

She closed her eyes and breathed in the salty smell of the air.

Suddenly, everything was liquid. She moved, dodging, blocking, attacking her invisible assailant. In, out, in, out, high block, low block, side kick, knife-hand strike, back flip, breathe…she could feel the soft ground beneath her bare feet, the tingle that always came with that instant connection with the earth. Attack, attack, stay back, attack, step to the right, left strike, come out, stay, breath…it was all water.

"You know you shouldn't be doing that out here in the open."

Sakura sighed. "Yukito…you know I can't help it. You know that feeling when you become one with everything, when you are everything, when everything if liquid."

Yukito walked up behind and laid a gentle hand on her small shoulder. "You'll get punished. You know it. I suspect you're back hasn't completely healed from the last time."

"My back is fine," Sakura shrugged away Yukito's hand. "How about we have a little go right here? Come on. Just for old time's sake." She punched him playfully in the shoulder.

"Sakura."

She stilled and looked up at his pale blue eyes, clear and unwavering, as though not even death itself could cloud them.

"I miss them, Yukito. I want my dad back. I want my brother back. I don't know why it happened." Her voice was threatening to crack.

"I know, Sakura," Yukito moved to envelope her in his arms, but she pushed him away.

"It's my escape, you know?" She motioned to the field in which she had been practicing. "My sanctuary. I can't cry in front of them. I never have. I didn't when they captured me, I didn't when they whipped me, and I won't now. This is my strength. This is where…I don't need to cry."

Yukito cocked his head to one side and peered at her. "Everyone needs to cry sometime."

Sakura's eye twitched and she straightened, pulling her shoulders back and her chin up, her very personality seeming to make her taller than the mere 5'4" she really was. "I will cry, Yukito. When I have my home back. When I have my Chanson. That's when I'll cry. But not before then. Never." With that, she whirled around and headed back towards the castle.

"Oh, and Yukito." He glanced up at as she paused and glanced over her shoulder, a few strands of her crimson hair coming loose from her braid.

"I will get Chanson back. Not even the Mother Goddess herself could stop me."

Miyu: the end! Review! …please!

Ryuu: short, but sweet…minus the sweet.


	4. You MUST be joking

Dancing. So much goddessdamned dancing that she was about ready to pass out…and it wasn't even her doing the dancing!

All Sakura was doing was passing out exotic drinks in delicate crystal glasses on polished silver trays throughout the ballroom, and those blasted women swirling and swirling and swirling and…oh, oh great…she was getting nauseous.

"Sakura? Um…honey? Are you okay?" Tomoyo paused by Sakura's side and gave her a worried look. "You look pale…have you eaten today?" She knew that Sakura had an annoying habit of forgetting to eat when she got busy.

Sakura nodded with a hand to her head. "I've eaten, I'm fine, really…" Swallow. "….WHY do these dances have to involve so much goddessdamned SPINNING? I'm not even participating and I'm about ready to vomit right her on their sparkly shoes." Another swallow.

Tomoyo wrinkled her brows and gently took Sakura's tray from her. "Here…let me empty this tray and you can go out in the garden and calm down for a bit." With one, swift movement, she had moved Sakura's nearly full tray from her hands and balanced it on one hand while the other deftly resituated the tray she already had. "You know good I am at balancing these trays. Go on, take a break. I'll cover for you." Tomoyo smiled at a passing guest her paused to take two drinks from her tray. "Just be back soon, k?"

Sakura gave Tomoyo one of the most grateful of looks and made her way towards one of the many doors leading out to the gardens. There were already other people out there, almost all of them guests, wondering in and out of the roses and callalillies and birds of paradise and other exotic flowers that grew within the Li family's vast gardens. The Queen had a thing about all her belongings being exotic…which might have explained her wanting only the most beautiful of lesser people to be servants within her household. Or, again, this could be explained by sheer lunacy…

Sakura quickly made her way past the guests into the thicker, deeper areas of the gardens, where fewer guests would be and more space would live. The deeper one went into the Li gardens, the more likely one was to find the streams and ponds with brightly colored fish, as well as miniature waterfalls with the calming sound of water flowing. It was here that Sakura could often be found meditating and cleansing her charkas, if not in the field practicing her techniques. It was deep in the gardens, on the grassy shores of the small ponds, that Sakura could glance into the future…and the past.

One pond in particular, with few fish and marshy grass and water lilies, was the pond that Sakura most often frequented. After all—the clearer the pond, the better the vision.

Bending down to her knees and sitting on her legs, she took a deep breath, held it, then slowly and purposefully released it. She closed her eyes and called forth the vision she wanted from the depths of her memory. It was one of the hardest visions to watch, but the one she wanted the most.

Opening her eyes, she leaned over the pool and began to stare into the dark depths of the pond. Her reflection stared back at her, deep green expectant eyes and dark red hair swept up in a mass of flowing waves by bejeweled hair pins. Oh yes—even the servants were expected to wear expensive accessories. Only the best, after all.

She let her eyes lose focus, and watched patiently as the vision slowly appeared on the surface of the water.

It was her, only three years of age, playing a childhood game of tag with her father in an open field that could have only belonged to her country Chanson. Her mother was there, the only time she could remember her still being alive, before the Red Sickness took her. Her mother was sitting on the grass nearby, laughing as she watched her tiny daughter run as fast she could after her father, and giggling as they both came after her in the end. This was the earliest memory Sakura had, and one of only a few that involved her mother. It was painful, it was heart-wrenching, it….was what helped her survive each day. It hurt and killed and it kept her alive.

"Ahem."

Sakura jerked, startled out of her reverie and feeling the instant headache that came from jumping out of a vision so fast. Blinking and forcing her eyes to readjust to the dimmer light, Sakura lifted up her head to look straight in front of her. A waterfall. No one around. Perhaps she'd imagined that voice.

"Did I startle you?"

Another jump from Sakura, and she whipped her head around to find…to find…dear goddesses, that was the prince standing behind her.

"Ah…..I…." Blink. "…I'm sorry, what?"

The prince smiled slightly. "I said—did I startle you?"

Sakura felt a twinge of annoyance spark inside her at that. "It wasn't obvious by my startled motion and confused look?" She grumpily remarked. She HATED it when someone asked a question of the obvious. Like when she was reading, and someone would walk up to her and ask "Watcha doing?" ….as if it wasn't PAINFULLY obvious….

At that, the prince broke into a full-fledged smile. "You certainly speak your mind, don't you?"

It wasn't until this statement that the fact she was still a servant of his house—hell—his bloody KINGDOM, came rushing back to her like a ton of rather weighty bricks. "I—I'm sorry, your Majesty." She bowed from where she sat. "Please forgive me. I wasn't thinking." Goddess, how she hated groveling.

He eyed her for a moment, his face a blank, his eyes searching for….who knew what. "Really."

He continued his blatant stare, causing Sakura to shift uncomfortably, wondering what the hell he thought he was staring at that little bastard. "Erm…" She bit her lip, longing, pleading, BEGGING for this moment to be over with. Why did he insist upon staring at her so? It was unnerving, it was unsettling, it was—

"What were you doing?"

She blinked. "….Sir?"

He shifted to the other leg and crossed his arms over his chest. "Just now—what were you doing?"

She swallowed. "I…I was just looking at the water, your Majesty. They are such lovely ponds that a person can…can get lost in them…" _Lost in them??_ She mentally shook her head and rolled her eyes. _What the…_

"It looked as though you were watching something in particular."

She swallowed harder. "Um…there's only the fish to watch in there, your Highness." She mentally smacked herself over the head. "But they can certainly be watched intently!" _Your killing yourself here, Sakura…_

His stare became more intent. "And then there are other things one can watch in the water."

Sakura froze. _Does he know?? He couldn't know. There's no way he could no…could he??How—could—no!…just…no!_

He smirked. "I imagine by now you're asking yourself something along the lines of 'Does he know?' And the answer is—yes. I know. I can recognize something such as that."

Sakura's head jerked back in surprise. A million thoughts raced through her head, flashing to the front and being pushed to the back. _Should I pretend I don't know what he's talking about? Of course not—that's ridiculous. He already knows. No hiding. What will he do? Will he tell Queen Kimiko? She'll whip me for sure. I've not heard of anyone in this land being able to do these things…maybe they'll burn me at the stake! Oh gods…this cannot end well…this gonna be bad…this gonna be, like…end of the world bad…or at least, and of MY world bad…_

"Um…well I…er, that is…" Heavy swallow. "What I mean is……are you gonna kill me?"

He blinked in something that was similar to surprise and then shook his head and chuckled. "You're awfully dramatic, aren't you? There are people in our world who can See through mirrors and water and such, though those people are few and far between."

"So….those people aren't, like…hurt or, say….burned at the stake….or anything….are they?"

At that, he threw his head back and laughed. It was a soft sound, as though even his laughter were somehow restrained into a more royal and noble action. "Yes, you definitely have a flare for the dramatic. No, we don't burn people at the stake for being a Seer. In fact, I'm fairly sure we don't burn people at the stake at all. After all, if we did, I'd probably be dead."

Sakura paused in her worryings. "I'm sorry…what?"

The prince glanced at her with his amber eyes that seemed to search her soul. "Myself. I am a Seer."

She gaped.


	5. The Deal

"OOOOOOOH!!!" Sakura punched a feather pillow and grumbled as a few feathers came flying towards the floor. "Goddamn effin'…." She swore and swore and swore some more while Tomoyo folded a silk blanket with a false calm. Inside, she too was freaking out.

It had been more than a week since that conversation between Sakura and the Prince, who had insisted that she call him Syaoran (though never in public, of course). The conversation, after the sudden and alarming admission of the Prince (er—Syaoran), turned in a general direction that left Sakura stunned and rather annoyed. After a few minutes of her repeatedly attempting to convince Syaoran that she was not, in fact, a seer, she eventually gave up on accomplishing the impossible. Suprisingly, there had been more to Syaoran's admission of power—he wanted a teacher.

Sakura growled once more and punched the second set of pillows she had just laid atop the Queen's bed. A teacher? How could she be a teacher? Granted, she's been able to see within reflective surfaces for years upon years, but that didn't mean she was able to lay down the rules or-or the guidelines or….WHATEVER the hell he expected. _I mean, no one can fully master something as powerful as being able to see the past, present, or future._

But what if she didn't?

What if she said no? What if she told him that she just flat out wasn't going to do it? Granted, she'd already brought up the point that no one can truly master this power, at least, not without side effects. Much to her dismay, he wasn't the type to give up easily. In fact, he was just about as stubborn as Sakura was herself, except he was able to do it with some degree of charm. Which just caused her even more annoyance.

"DAMMIT!!" PUNCH. "GODSDAMMIT…" PUNCH, PUNCH.

Tomoyo raised an eyebrow from where she sat on one of the many window seats in the Queen's royal bedchambers. "Sakura, I told you you shouldn't have agreed to it."

"What choice did I have?" Sakura practically screamed, throwing one of the feather pillows at the wall. It hit the wall with a dull thud and dropped to the floor in a flurry of feathers. "He practically threatened to expose me as a seer! If we're not careful, he'll find out just how much magic I really CAN do, then we'll all be in a world of hurt!" Sakura fell backwards onto the Queen's giant bed, completely destroying the smooth, elegant masterpiece she and Tomoyo had spent an hour working on (meaning the bed).

"Well, the least you could do is stop messing up that bed," Tomoyo huffed, placing the folded blankets in the linens closet and walking over to the bed wherein she pulled Sakura back up off the bed. "Just…go with it for now. If things get bad, well…we'll go from there."

Sakura stood by the bed as she watched Tomoyo straighten out the bedding and fluff the pillows once more (after having retrieved the thrown pillow, to which she remarked "Keep throwing these pillows and we're gonna have more than a bunch of feathers on our hands…"). It seemed to Sakura that she was just going to have to carry through with this deal, no matter how much she disliked the entire situation.

"Wait…I thought you said that _he_ said that seers were a common thing or at least an excepted thing or something," Tomoyo commented to Sakura with a somewhat uninterested tone. How she could accomplish the feat of calm sanity in the midst of something as crazy as this was incredible, and only seemed to speak volumes as to her truly ladylike demeanor.

"Okay—seers do happen here, but they aren't necessarily common. However, as soon as someone is found to have a seeing ability, they are immediately employed under the Kings personal guard or the military. While I do certainly enjoy a good fight now and then, I definitely do not want to be fighting for the country that _killed my father_." Sakura panted, out of breath from her sudden rant. "And what's worse…what if he finds out I'm the princess? What if the King or Queen finds out? You know what will happen, Tomoyo." Her sudden deathly serious tone caused Tomoyo to pause in her work.

"You know what will happen."

Tomoyo nodded seriously. "I know."

"…I'll die."

"…Okay, seriously. WHAT are you doing?" Sakura asked, staring at Syaoran.

Syaoran's face was scrunched up into a very serious look, as he strained his eyes on the mirror in front of him. "I'm trying…to fucking…see." He ground out.

Sakura glanced at his reflection in the mirror, then back at him again. "…Anything?"

Stare. "……No." He sighed after a few more minutes of intense staring. "The only thing I saw when we first started was my reflection. And now I see…my reflection."

Sakura sighed heavily and sauntered back over to the cushioned loveseat that lived in the less decorated rooms below the castle. Apparently they were there for times of war, in order to hide the royal family if ever they were invaded. Their obvious lack of use was a sign of the kingdom's strong defenses…either that or the maids were seriously falling behind in their duties. Oh wait…that included Sakura and Tomoyo…

She glanced back up again to find Syaoran once again glaring at his reflection. She sighed. "Syaoran, if you keep on trying to force it, it won't come. You have to completely relax and lose focus of everything. You have to let down all your guards."

Syaoran grunted. "This is why the Seers always have at least three highly trained bodyguards with them at all times. What better time to attack someone then when all their guards are down."

Sakura flipped her long, auburn hair over her shoulder. "But you aren't in any danger here. You can do this."

"It's not as easy as that. I've been trained to never let my guard down."

"As have I—" Sakura suddenly went quiet.

But it was too late. Syaoran noticed. "…You've been trained never to let your guard down? That seems to be a military training to me."

Sakura remained quiet.

Syaoran stared at her reflection in the mirror intently. "…A woman with military training…"

Sakura stared back.

It was an eternity. Her…versus him. Golden amber eyes meeting emerald green. Sakura didn't know whether to say something or not. The slightest misstep in this little tête-à-tête could lead to her banishment, her imprisonment…or her death. What would he do? This great prince of a great kingdom…what will he do? Weeks upon weeks had gathered that she tried to teach him, and every day he treated her just the same—like a commoner. So that leaves the question…what will he do?

"…Too bad my mother will never know." His eyes returned to his own reflection as he once again began concentrating.

Sakura released the breath she never knew she was holding in a loud whoosh. "…I think we're done for today. Maybe you should go back to practicing in water instead of the mirror….unless you'd like to continue with that headache you're forming." She eyed him recognized the strained look that meant a migraine.

He nodded. "How about we go to the place where we first met. One month anniversary or whatever."

At that, she laughed. "If you say so."

She was asleep.

Hours had passed, and he'd tried to figure out how to make himself relax, how to let down his guard, but wouldn't he be damned if he just couldn't. When he was a child, the visions seemed to come so much easier. As soon as he looked into the water, there they were, as if they had simply been waiting for him to look down. But now…

And there she was, lying asleep on the grass. It was summer, and the nights were fairly warm, which was what probably allowed for her comfortable sleep.

Her hair looked like strawberry syrup against the dark green of the grass. Her breathing was deep and smooth as she was curled up in a ball against him. She truly was a good teacher. The problem didn't lie with her methods—the problem was with him. Never had he thought his military training would hold him back.

She sighed in her sleep and settled in closer to him, burying her head beneath his crossed legs. It made him chuckle. She was so much like a child sometimes. A beautiful, womanly child with strawberry hair.

He touched a strand of her hair……it felt like silk. Strawberry silk. He wondered if it smelled like strawberries, too…

Something shifted out of the corner of his eye. He glanced up, refraining himself from jumping up and disturbing the sleeping woman next to him. Nothing there.

_What…?_ He blinked in confusion. It took him a second to realize that the movement came from below, from the water. There was something there…

Within seconds, he was immersed in the vision that was playing out before him. There was a girl, a young girl, maybe 11, with braided, reddish hair. She was pulling back a bow with an arrow in it. Suddenly, there was movement behind her. A rather large crowd had suddenly begun moving behind her in what looked like panic. There were firey arrows raining down, people falling and tripping all over each other, over the mounting bodies that began gathering on the ground. The girl looked around, confused, her mouth screaming something that he couldn't hear, and then—WOOSH—suddenly she was on the ground, hit from behind by some massive force, most likely a person. She lay there, confused, her mouth still moving forming empty words, her emerald green eyes frozen in fear…

He heard a gasp. "What are you doing?" A shrill voice asked next to him. "_What the hell are you doing?_"


End file.
